Often summoned by an alarm, owners arrive at work to find their windows in pieces and nothing but bolts on the floor where their ATMs used to be.

That’s what Valencia found Jan. 31.

“They didn’t really get much,” said Valencia, whose store is in the 1400 block of Artesia Boulevard. “Since it is a small ATM, on its best day it has maybe like $3,000.”

The payday is good, however. The crimes take only moments.

Most occur the same way: Burglars break a window, hook a rope or metal chain to the ATM, attach the other end to their van and pull.

Once they yank it from its base, they load it into the van, break it open and take the cash.

The latest crime was reported Oct. 19 at a Produce 4 Less store on Firestone Boulevard in South Gate, according to a bulletin issued by the city’s Police Department.

Two masked men pried open a door, attached a chain to the store’s portable ATM, linked the other end to the undercarriage of their Chevrolet Astrovan and drove forward, police said. But they were unable to break the ATM free from the floor. They fled when the chain snapped.

In other cases, the burglars succeeded. On March14, a motorist driving past the Arco service station at 2150 Marine Ave. in Gardena heard a crashing noise and saw a dark-colored Chevrolet Astrovan parked outside the business.

The van had white stripes similar to the design on the “Starsky and Hutch” car from the 1970s television show, Gardena police Lt. Ed Burnett said.

“The van was parked with its rear facing the front entrance,” Burnett said. “As the guy drove past, he noticed a male wearing a black-hooded sweat shirt run from the gas station and jump into the van.”

The van hurriedly took off.

Officers arrived quickly and looked inside the business. The ATM was gone. All that was left were bent bolts on the floor and a plastic sign on the ground that said, “ATM Machine.”

At Valencia’s store, officers found smashed front glass doors and tire tracks on the ground outside.

The missing ATM was found later lying on the Century (105) Freeway, empty.

Thieves ignored the computers in Valencia’s store, taking only the ATM.

“We do have 24-hour surveillance and an alarm system,” Valencia said. “They don’t have time to sit here and remove the computers.”

A similar crime occurred toward the end of 2006 at a business in a shopping center at Artesia Boulevard and Western Avenue, Burnett said.

As several law enforcement agencies work the cases, it is unknown if the same band of thieves are committing the crimes, or if there are several groups, police said.

The burglars were about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and 140 to 160 pounds. Their sex and race were unknown.

Business owners normally place ATMs inside their stores as a service to customers.

The ATMs are owned by third parties, but the business owner receives a cut of the fees for their use.

Valencia said he has installed bars on his windows to protect his store and his computers, but he has chosen not to replace the stolen ATM. If he eventually does, he would have it secured to the floor with a cement base to prevent anyone from tugging it from the store.

“You literally dig a big hole and put the ATM machine on there with the cement,” he said. “If we put one back again, then we are going to take precautions.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.